Gloria Pollard in Emmerdale was Eric Pollard’s fourth wife.
Though she initially seemed to be a straight-laced member of the village community, she soon proved Eric had met his match in her.
So what was her story? Where is she? And could she ever come back to Emmerdale?
When did Gloria Pollard arrive in Emmerdale?
When Gloria Weaver first appeared in Emmerdale in 2000 she was as a rather stern-faced member of vicar Ashley Thomas’s congregation.
Gloria, along with Edna Birch, didn’t approve of Ashley’s romance with Bernice Blackstock and made her feelings very clear!
She took a job as the receptionist at the vets’ surgery, and began trying to sell off her antiques.
Eric gave her some valuations and the pair had a bit of a spark.
One of the items Eric valued for Gloria was a candlestick. When he was at an auction a few days later, and spotted a similar one, he bought it for her to make a matching pair.
Unfortunately, the candlestick Eric bought, was the one Gloria had sold.
Ah, those were the days when Emmerdale was full of hilarious antiques-related shenanigans!
Gloria and Pollard’s romance
When Gloria and Eric got together, it became clear that Gloria was hungry for power and glory.
At the time, Eric was a local councillor and had one eye on becoming an MP.
Gloria was really keen for him to succeed in his political ambitions.
So keen, in fact, that on their wedding night, she convinced him to sleep with another councillor – Glynis Hardy – in order to make sure that Glynis nominated Eric as the candidate for election.
Shocking stuff!
Mayor Pollard
Gloria’s plan paid off, and Eric became mayor and then set his sights on becoming the local MP.
But gossip-loving Steph Stokes got wind of the scandal surrounding his nomination and revealed all! Gloria managed to portray herself as the wronged woman. Smart!
Her political ambitions weren’t done, thought. She stood for election herself, won the seat , and headed off to the bright lights of London.
When did Gloria Pollard leave Emmerdale?
While she was working down in Westminster, Gloria’s head was turned by her young, male researcher, Hilary – she’d fibbed to Eric was a woman.
They began a steamy affair. When Hilary came to Emmerdale – surprising Eric, who was shocked to discover he was a man – Steph Stokes spotted him and Gloria embracing.
She blackmailed Gloria, who paid up but got revenge by unearthing as much dirt as she could on Steph.
Steph wasn’t about to give up, though. Instead, she went to the papers and soon Gloria’s sordid secrets were splashed on the front page of the Hotten Courier!
After Eric discovered the truth about his wife, he threw her out and Gloria left the village drunk.
And when her car and shoes were found, Eric assumed she was dead.
But later, Gloria sent him a photograph of her soaking up the sun in an exotic location and admitted she’d faked her own death.
Which, let’s be honest, is something Eric would do!
Gloria was last seen in Emmerdale in December 2003, however she made an appearance in a video in 2004.
Who played Gloria Pollard?
Gloria was played by actress Janice McKenzie.
She’s been in just about every British television show over the years, including playing Mrs Paton in Coronation Street – the headteacher of Weatherfield High when Sarah-Louise Platt became pregnant, aged just 13.
Janice has also appeared in High Road, Doctors, The Bill, Casualty, Heartbeat and The Royal, among many others.
Could Gloria return?
Since Gloria staggered out of Emmerdale, Eric’s been married to the absolute love of his life, Val Lambert, and since Val’s tragic death, he’s now found happiness again with Brenda Walker.
We’d quite like to see Gloria return, just to give Eric – who’s Emmerdale’s longest running character – a storyline to really get his teeth into!
What do you think?
Read more: Who is in the cast of Emmerdale 2022? Meet the full line-up
Emmerdale usually airs on weekdays at 7:30pm, with an hour long episode on Thursdays.
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